When It's Time
by Chanossay
Summary: After graduating from Yale with an English degree in her back pocket, Quinn Fabray moves to New York to live with her best friends, Santana and Brittany. There she meets aspiring Broadway star Rachel Barbra Berry at Patti's, the small coffee shop where Rachel works. AU Faberry. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Fanning herself with a flyer, Quinn scanned the street she was currently parked on, searching for some kind of indication to direct her to where she was supposed to be. Of course she realized now that packing her cell phone charger for the car in one of the boxes inside a U-Haul truck, which was driving to her new apartment somewhere in Manhattan, was a particularly bad idea; considering her iPhone was her only form of GPS and now the battery had died and she was lost. She wished she'd bothered to pay attention to Mrs. Hagberg in her high school geography classes; if she had, she would have been able to read a map and would not be parked on a random, Manhattan street in the late August afternoon heat.

A week earlier she'd sworn to Santana during a Skype call that she wouldn't ask a stranger from the street for directions ("Listen, Q. New Yorkers are _crazy_, they could direct you to a crack house or be a serial killer – or even worse, they might give you a hard to resist deal on Broadway tickets."), however, difficult times turn to difficult measures and Quinn found herself flinging open the door of her red VW bug and scanning the sidewalk for a decent looking human being.

"Excuse me, I'm sort of lost, do you know where this street is?" Quinn asked as she stopped an extremely attractive jogger, who pulled out his ear buds and slowed as Quinn approached him. The jogger squinted at the paper and read for a second before nodding and giving her simple directions while she made note in her head of the left and right turns. "Thank you, so much," she smiled and turned swiftly on her heel back to her car, but the jogger caught her attention once more.

"Hey, I didn't get your name – I'm Brody," he said, eyes twinkling in the late afternoon sunlight. Quinn's eyes trailed down his perfectly toned body and smirked to herself – four years ago she would have swooned at just being smiled at by this guy, but after the amount of failed relationships she had had in high school and in college she'd made a promise to herself that she would not accept any romantic offering from any guy she met in New York. Looking back up to Brody's face, she smiled and answered,

"I'm Quinn, it's been a pleasure." Before turning back to her car and waved quickly to Brody as she sped down the street.

* * *

Santana and Brittany were standing outside their apartment building talking to one of the movers when Quinn pulled to a stop behind the U-Haul truck, and Brittany smiled excitedly as she released her hand from Santana's and skipped over to Quinn, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Welcome to New York, roomie!" the taller girl whispered into Quinn's left ear and she grinned as she pulled away to let Santana hug Quinn, who breathed out a slow, "Hey, Q," before leaning back and smirking at her friend, "you certainly took your time getting here, get lost?" Quinn rolled her eyes and nodded.

"It's totally fine if you get lost in New York, Quinn," Brittany informed her, a serious look on her face, "when we first moved here I got lost on the way to the grocery store so I asked a guy for directions, but he didn't answer. I think he was asleep… or dead maybe," Santana stared at her girlfriend with a horrified expression as Brittany shrugged and turned back to Quinn, who was reaching into her car to pull out a cardboard box.

Santana groaned, "I thought the movers already brought all your crap," when she saw the box was almost busted at the sides from the weight of the books that filled it; but Quinn laughed,

"There's another two boxes, could you two help bring them up?" and turned to walk into the building as she heard Santana groan again,

"Jesus, Quinn – how the hell am I supposed to carry this up four flights of stairs?"

"Come on, Santana, you were on the Cheerios for four years, you carried heavy things all the time for Coach Sue," Quinn told her as Brittany joined her at her side in front of the building's door.

"Yeah, like your big-ass head at the top of the damn pyramid." Santana snarled and huffed as she followed the other two girls into the building and towards the staircase, staring longingly at the elevator, which had been out of order for two weeks, wishing that the landlord would get up off his fat ass and fix it already.

* * *

Once they had finished helping the movers arrange furniture in Quinn's new bedroom, which to her utter dismay they had put her bed against the wall that Santana and Brittany's headboard was against on the other side of the thin wall, Quinn paid them and the three girls ordered Chinese food and sat on the sofa while Santana flicked through the channels on the TV, eventually landing on an old 90s sitcom. Brittany returned from the kitchen with a cheap bottle of wine that had most likely been bought in celebration of Quinn's arrival from the 7/11 down the street that Quinn had passed as she drove to the apartment.

"Britt, that shit is disgusting," Santana said, despite reaching out to take one of the three plastic wine glasses Brittany was holding in one hand. Brittany passed a glass to Quinn as she sat back down in her spot between Santana and Quinn and twisted the cap on the bottle to pour the deep red liquid into her own glass, and then Santana's and Quinn's. Quinn took a sip of the wine and immediately pulled a face – it was nothing like the wine she was used to drinking when her mom let her have a glass of her special aged wine at dinner when she lived back home.

"Santana's right, this is gross," she laughed, but sipped more anyway; she was happy, living with her best friends in New York City, eating Chinese food and drinking cheap wine.

Brittany shook her head at the other two girls, declaring that "Chinese food and cheap, gross wine is, like, the norm for New Yorkers, I saw it on F.R.I.E.N.D.S," after taking another sip, she quickly changed her mind, "Actually, you guys are right, this is disgusting, like that time Lord Tubbington tried to invent his own energy drink and it ended up tasting exactly like pee,". Placing her cup down on the linoleum flooring, Brittany wrapped an arm around Santana and an arm around Quinn, pulling them both into her sides and smiling, quickly pecking Santana's lips and Quinn's forehead.

It was worlds away from what she was used to back home in Lima, and even her dorm in New Haven, but she was happy _– they_ were happy.

* * *

Quinn wished her body clock wasn't still set to her crazy class schedule back at Yale and wouldn't wake her up at six in the morning, but as hard as she tried she couldn't force herself to fall back asleep. The bathroom in the apartment was quaint: there was a toilet, a shower and a sink, however with three girls living in the apartment together, every surface was cluttered with makeup, various skin products and a rainbow collection of hair ties. Quinn removed her pajamas and slipped into the shower quickly, careful not to knock the cluster of shampoo bottles down as she stepped under the showerhead. As the water cascaded onto her, she ran her fingers through her shoulder-length blonde hair and reached for one of the "for blonde hair" shampoos, which she suspected was Brittany's, and squeezed some onto her hand before kneading it into her hair slowly. She pulled her lips into her mouth and held herself back from spontaneously beginning to sing while she showered; she certainly did not want to wake Santana and face an angry 'you-woke-me-up-at-six-in-the-morning' rant.

* * *

After showering, quickly dressing herself and fixing her hair and makeup, Quinn silently slipped on a pair of ballet flats and left the apartment to find a nearby coffee shop; she needed to introduce Santana to ground coffee because she physically could not stomach Santana's instant crap.

Despite the early hour, the odd passersby walked along the sidewalk outside Quinn's apartment, one or two speeding past to whatever emergency that may be in occurrence at 7am on a Sunday morning. Stepping out of the doorway, Quinn scanned the buildings surrounding the one in which her apartment was situated in, which were lightly shadowed by the low morning sun, and strolled towards the end of the street, carefully memorizing the stores and buildings she passed to refrain from getting lost yet again in the middle of Manhattan.

About a block and a half away she found a somewhat empty coffee shop named _Patti's_, which was tucked between a barber shop and a bar with various open mic flyers in the window named _Callbacks_. Quinn pushed open the glass door and was immediately hit with the rich smell of fresh coffee beans. Smiling to herself, she stepped inside and looked around. There was only one other patron – a man seated in the corner of the room fiddling with an iPad. Behind the counter, the barista, who initially had had her back facing the door, spun around to the jingle of the bells that announced Quinn's entrance and smiled an almost blinding, pearly white smile.

"Hello, welcome to _Patti's_, what can I get for you this morning?" she asked, beaming.

"Just a Mocha, thanks." Quinn answered, sliding the correct change towards the brunette and taking a seat in one of the chocolate brown leather armchairs. The whirring sound of the coffee machine grinding the beans together was a comforting reminder of her job back in New Haven, and she reached into her purse to pull out her copy of _Les Misérables_ and thumbed through the pages to find where her bookmark was tucked between pages to continue from where she'd previously read. Not too long later, the barista placed Quinn's coffee on the table in front of the blonde and smiled again, this time Quinn returned the smile and reached for her coffee to take a sip before returning to her book.

* * *

She wasn't sure how long she had been reading for – she had a tendency to forget her surroundings and find herself lost in whatever book she was reading – but she was interrupted when a conversations over at the counter, that had begun with whispers, suddenly became a lot more heated. Quinn looked over to see the barista slowly backing away from a male as his tone became sharper and louder, and a sudden element of protection overcame her – she'd witnessed a scene similar to this between her parents when she was a kid, and she knew exactly how this kind of thing ended up. Slamming her paperback onto the table beside her empty mug, the blonde stormed over to the counter and grabbed the back of the man's leather jacket and pulled him back away from the barista, who looked terrified to say the least.

The man struggled against Quinn's hold and finally ripped away from her, demanding "Who the hell are you?" to which Quinn replied by shaking her head and feeling her former high school bitch persona rush through her veins,

"You get two choices, James Dean, either you leave this place immediately, or I call the cops," she glared at him, squaring herself in front of him. Somehow, she managed to look intimidating, despite her pastel summer dress and flower hair slide. The man glared back before looking back at the brunette barista and swiftly turning towards the door and storming out; the whole exit was incredibly over-dramatic.

Following the sound of the door thudding shut, Quinn heard the woman behind her let go of a breath that she must have been holding for a while, and spun around to face her.

"Th-thank you," the barista said, her once warm chocolate brown eyes now barren of any emotion other than fear. She wasn't going to lie – the whole scene that had taken place before her was extremely theatrical and almost looked staged - however, she wasn't going to let this girl, whom she had never met before, be treated like that. The barista opened the counter hatch, slumped herself in the armchair that Quinn had occupied only minutes ago, and burst into tears, sobbing loudly into the palms of her hands. Feeling a little lost, Quinn stood awkwardly for a couple of seconds, not wanting to leave the girl but still unsure of what to do, and ended up taking a seat in the armchair opposite.

After around five minutes, the barista began wiping furiously at her eyes and stopped crying, before looking back and Quinn, seemingly shocked that the blonde was still there. "You didn't have to stand up for me like that; not that I'm not grateful that you stopped Jesse from going any further with his violent actions. It's just that you don't know me and I don't know you but-" Quinn held up her right palm to interrupt the brunette's long-winded ramble and smiled.

"Honestly, it was nothing," the barista's eyes lit up as Quinn stood from the chair and held her hand out towards the other woman, "I'm Quinn Fabray, nice to meet you," The barista took Quinn's hand and stood, shaking lightly and pointed to the name badge pinned to her green apron, which read _Rachel_ and was decorated with a gold star sticker.

"Rachel Berry," Quinn smiled and returned Rachel's handshake before pulling away and returning to her seat.

"So, that guy… was he your boyfriend?" Quinn asked, nodding towards the door that Jesse had exited from. Rachel shook her head slowly and pursed her lips before answering,

"He's my ex. We dated in high school and he just moved to New York from LA and he wants to get back together with me, but somehow he can't understand the concept of me _not_ wanting a boyfriend." Quinn nodded as Rachel told her story and found herself relating to it. After she had her baby, Puck had continuously chased her up and tried to get back with her, but couldn't comprehend the concept of "No." meaning no. She looked down to see that her right hand was clasped with Rachel's left and looked up to meet with the chocolate brown eyes that she'd grown so familiar with during the past half hour that she had been acquainted with Rachel. The girls were pulled out of the moment when Quinn's cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket. And she pulled her hands away to read the text.

_Where the hell are you, Q? Britt wants you to make her chocolate chip pancakes so you need to come home. –Santana_

"I'm really sorry, that was my roommate. She wants me to go home to make her girlfriend pancakes," Quinn said, feeling annoyed that she had to leave Rachel in her fragile state so soon. The brunette nodded and hesitated for a second before asking,

"When you walked by did you see the bar next door? Callbacks?" Quinn nodded and Rachel continued, "I'm going there tonight with a few friends, maybe you and your roommates could come too? I mean, you don't have to, it's merely a suggestion-" Quinn laughed and placed her hand on Rachel's shoulder to once again pause her ramble and smiled,

"I'll ask them. Maybe see you later, Rachel Berry." She said, pushing the door to the coffee shop open, and turned to look at Rachel.

"See you around, Quinn Fabray."

* * *

The apartment was empty when Quinn returned, breath heavy after lugging herself up the four flights of stairs.

"Honeys, I'm home!" she sang and placed the brown paper grocery bag on the kitchen island, removing the pancake ingredients from the bag. Her head shot up at when the sound of wet feet slapping against the linoleum caught her attention, as Brittany and Santana emerged from the bathroom, dressed in nothing but a single lilac bath towel. "Seriously? You couldn't have waited until _after_ you had shower sex to tell me to come home?" Brittany giggled and dragged Santana into their bedroom as Quinn rolled her eyes and began preparing the chocolate chip pancakes.

Five minutes later, Brittany appeared on one of the pale blue stools at the kitchen island wearing an NYU hoody and pajama shorts, her wet hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun. Quinn slapped her hand as she reached out a hand to grab a pancake from the stack in the center of the counter, "Nu-uh, no pancakes for either of you until you promise to only have sex when I'm out of the apartment _or_ very quietly. I do not want any mental scarring from living with the two of you." Brittany's eyes widened and she looked over her shoulder at Santana, who was stopped in the bedroom doorway.

"No. No way." Santana yelled, storming over to the kitchen. Brittany, however, held out her hand towards Quinn and quietly said "deal", to which Santana stared at her incredulously.

"What? I really like pancakes, okay?" Brittany said, shrugging her shoulders and reaching for a pancake. Santana shook her head and threw herself on the sofa, pulling a pillow over her face. "Wait, you weren't serious were you?" Brittany asked, looking up from her pancake and she threw the half eaten pancake back onto the plate when Quinn nodded her head.

Santana eventually lifted her head and walked over to the counter, announcing that she and Brittany would promise to be quiet, "but I can't promise that I'll be quiet the whole time. I mean, Britt is like a sex goddess-" her remark was muffled by the pancake that Quinn shoved into her mouth. Brittany giggled and dragged her fingers through Santana's wet hair as she reached for the pancake she hadn't finished earlier. "Where did you go this morning, Quinn?" Santana asked once she'd swallowed the pancake.

"I, uh, I went to get coffee and I stopped a barista from possibly getting hurt by her ex-boyfriend. It was pretty intense." Santana tilted her head and looked at Quinn in disbelief.

"You, what?" she asked, brow knitting together. "I don't believe you. You're a bitch Quinn, and once a bitch always a bitch." Brittany slapped her girlfriend's arm lightly as Quinn shook her head to disagree.

"The way he was intimidating her… I couldn't just sit around and watch. It reminded me of my mom and dad, and I had to do something before it escalated into something worse." Santana's eyes softened and she reached over the counter to place her hand over Quinn's and squeezed it lightly. Santana was well aware of the happenings at the Fabray house in the past; many a time had Quinn turned up at her front door in tears, asking if she could stay the night.

"I totally know how it feels to stop a fight, Q. One time during Lord Tubbington's gang phase in high school, I caught him trying to beat up the cat from down the street so I stopped it and dragged Tubbs back into the house and forced him to eat broccoli for the entire week afterwards." Brittany's anecdote managed to elicit a grin from Quinn and Santana.

* * *

Santana grumbled as Brittany loaded her with another shopping bag, muttering about how much she hates shopping. As the three girls stepped out of the clothes store, Quinn lowered her sunglasses and asked Brittany where they were headed to next. Brittany pointed to a small shop that had vintage dresses in the window.

"You'll like this one, Quinn. They have all the old fashioned dresses you like to wear." Brittany informed her and linked their arms. Santana grumbled a quiet "joy" and followed the blondes into the store.

After rifling through a few racks of dresses, Quinn remembered the conversation she'd had with Rachel just before she left. "Hey, have you guys heard of Callbacks?" Santana rolled her eyes and nodded,

"Yeah, it's where all the NYADA dweebs go and sing karaoke and drink virgin cosmos." Quinn sighed and anticipated that Santana's answer to going would be a definite no.

"The girl I met today, Rachel, she invited us to go with her and her friends tonight. It's fine if you don't want to go, I can go by myself." Santana shook her head quickly and looked over to Brittany, who was already at the back of the store checking out the jewelry.

"No, you can't go on your first night out as an official New Yorker without me and Britt. We'll go, even if I will want to throw up on the hideous NYADA clothing choices." Quinn smiled and excitedly thanked Santana and skipped over to a different rack to find a new dress for the night.

* * *

"I hate Broadway music. I want to slap that bitch." Santana said as she gulped her vodka cranberry, glaring at the animated woman on stage singing 'All That Jazz'. Brittany ignored her and sipped her brightly colored mixed drink through a straw as she danced in her seat. Quinn watched the two of them happily from where she was sat in the corner of the booth, thinking about how much she'd missed her best friends when she was in New Haven.

An excited voice distracts her from her thoughts and she looks up to find Rachel standing on the stage. She's wearing a pair of shorts and a tight shirt underneath a blazer, and Quinn finds herself raking her eyes up and down the woman's body. Rachel grabbed onto the microphone and giggled tipsily before saying, "Hello my name is Rachel Berry and I'll be singing Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepson." Santana groaned at Rachel's song choice and rested her head on the table and Brittany chuckled as she ruffled her girlfriend's hair. The people in the booth next to theirs' shout "Yay Rachel!" and Rachel smiles coyly, clearly loving the attention. The bar quietened and Rachel began to sing. Despite the crappy pop song, Quinn was mesmerized by her voice and her eyes fixated on her as she glided across the low stage, dragging the microphone stand along with her and sliding her hand through her dark tresses of hair.

A light punch to her left arm snapped her out of her trance. Santana was laughing and Brittany announced that "Quinn's totally got a girl crush on her!" Quinn quickly excused herself to the bar, desperate to get away from Santana and Brittany's teasing. Seating herself at one of the bar stools, she ordered a shot and watched as the bartender poured the tequila. A body leant against her and she saw Rachel in her peripheral vision, who was smiling in her direction.

"Quinn! You made it! I knew you'd come, I really wanted to sing with you; your speaking voice gave me the impression that you can sing. You can sing right? Let's sing a duet!" the words fell out of Rachel's mouth in a fast tempo, and Quinn's slightly tipsy mind struggled to keep up, especially when Rachel's brown eyes were locked with her own. When Rachel's words pieced together in her head, her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly.

"No, I can't – I can't sing in front of all of these people," Rachel ignored her and ordered a shot for herself and instructed Quinn to drink hers with her. Raising her eyebrows, she waited as Rachel counted to three and licked the salt from her hand, downed the shot and quickly sucked on the lime. "Buy me another and I'll sing with you," Quinn smirked, turning her head to Rachel, who raised an eyebrow before grinning and ordering two more shots.

/

Rachel's fingers were tangled with her own as they stumbled over to the piano and flicked through the songbook. They decided on Teenage Dream and stepped onto the stage together, their hands clinging to each other. A hoard of wails from Rachel's group of friends and Brittany fist pumping and shouting "Woo, Quinn!" Quinn's eyes met with Santana's, which were wide open in shock, but were diverted when Rachel spoke.

"As you all know, I'm Rachel Berry and this is my friend, Quinn Fabray. We'll be singing a duet of Teenage Dream by Katy Perry." As the crowd cheered and the piano began to play, Quinn could hear her heart beat racing – and not in a good way. Desperately, she locked eyes with Rachel in a plea to let her leave the stage and flee with her dignity still intact. Rachel shook her head and reached out to take Quinn's left hand in her right and didn't look away from Quinn's eyes as she began to sing.

_You think I'm pretty without any makeup on,_

_You think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong,_

_I know you get me, so I'll let my walls come down_

_Down._

Rachel nodded to tell Quinn to sing the following part and she opened her mouth to sing, silently praying that her voice would sound remotely in tune.

_Let's go all the way tonight,_

_No regrets, just love,_

_We can dance until we die,_

_You and I, will be young forever._

As soon as the words left Quinn's vocal chords, Rachel's signature beam grew on her face and her eyes lit up excitedly. She squeezed the blonde's hand and turned away so that she could face their small audience to sing the chorus.

_You, make me feel like I'm living a,_

_Teenage dream, the way you turn me on,_

Quinn joined in, the alcohol had begun to take an effect and she felt herself loosening up. She danced on the stage with Rachel and by the end of the song every patron in the bar was on their feet. Rachel pulled Quinn into her arms and whispered into her ear, "That right there, Quinn Fabray, is your first standing ovation." They pulled apart and were immediately dragged off the stage by one of Rachel's friends.

"Rachel, that was wonderful, but you have to let somebody else have a chance in the spotlight," he said, somewhat jokingly, "Quinn? I'm Kurt Hummel, it's a pleasure." The man held out a gloved hand and Quinn took it, shaking lightly. Rachel hugged her again, and Quinn said a quiet "thank you" into her ear, to which Rachel pulled back and whispered, "It was nothing", before winking and returning to sit with her friends.

Turning around, Quinn went back to her booth where Santana and Brittany were sitting and joined them, reaching for Santana's drink and taking a gulp of the liquid. Her eyes were trained away from Santana's smirk, but glared at her when she said "I totally called it Britt, she's is definitely lady-gay."

Brittany nodded and told Quinn that they'd "had a bet running since junior year." Quinn continued to glare at the two of them.

"Rachel and I just met less than 24 hours ago, there is absolutely _nothing_ going on between the two of us." She tried to defend herself but she knew it wasn't working because Santana still hadn't wiped the smirk from her face. Brittany was tucked into Santana's side and quickly falling asleep against her shoulder, so the girls decided to call it a night and head back to their apartment.

As they passed Rachel and her friends, Quinn smiled and waved at the brunette and a chorus of "Bye, Quinn!" erupted from the crowded table. It was only then that Quinn realized that Brody, the jogger who gave her directions the day before, was seated within a close proximity to Rachel. She waved to him too, a little more half-heartedly than she had to Rachel, however.

The cold air hit her and Quinn suddenly realized how much she'd had to drink. Santana was trying to rein Brittany in ahead of her, who was trying to make Santana dance with her. Quinn stumbled a little as she sped up to catch up with her friends. A familiar voice called her from just behind, causing her to spin and giggle. Rachel ran the few steps between them to promptly hold her phone out towards Quinn.

"Your number – I need your number. Type it in." Quinn took the phone out of Rachel's hand and fumbled with it for a second before typing in her number. Handing the phone back, Quinn pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and bit it while smiling. Rachel stood on her tiptoes and sighed before darting forward to press a kiss against Quinn's cheek, "Goodnight Quinn. I'll call you tomorrow, I promise." The blonde watched as Rachel turned back towards Callbacks and entered the bar before she turned back to Santana and Brittany, who had witnessed the exchange. Brittany was clinging onto Santana as they giggled to themselves.

The rest of the walk back, Quinn's hand rested on her cheek where it tingled after Rachel's kiss.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I got the idea to write this fic after continuously listening to Taylor Swift's album "Red" (which I suggest you download right now because it's perf, I'm not even kidding.) and it has been in the works for an extraordinarily long time. When I say extraordinarily I mean two months, but it feels like longer. I really do hope that you enjoy reading, I expect there to be around fifteen chapters in total, but if I get carried away like usual, it will probably turn out to be more. I'll update as often as I can, but I have a lot of school work to do because of exams coming up, so in reality updates will be at least few days apart after Christmas.**

**Personally, I hate asking for people to review my stories because I rarely do myself – it's my new year's resolution to review everything I read – but they really do give me more motivation to continue writing. So please, if you have the time, drop in a quick review and let me know what you think (I can take constructive criticism!).**

**Also, if you have a tumblr and want to find out spoilers about future chapters or ask questions, my tumblr is .com.**

**The song for this chapter is Begin Again by Taylor Swift.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Four days had passed until Rachel finally contacted Quinn. Four days of constantly checking her phone every five minutes. Four days of playing every interaction they'd shared over in her head, making sure she wasn't over thinking it and they were definitely friends at the very least. Four days of Santana telling her she was paranoid and that Rachel would call, she was probably sick or lost her phone.

It was 9am and Quinn was sitting at the kitchen island eating Lucky Charms in her pajamas when her phone finally lit up.

_Hello, Quinn! It's Rachel Berry, the girl you met at Patti's and sang a duet with at Callbacks? I'm sorry I haven't texted before now, but my best friend Kurt – you met him at Callbacks – broke up with his boyfriend of 18 months on Monday and we've spent the last few days eating ice-cream and watching musicals. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this afternoon if you're free; I completely understand if you can't make it due to the short notice, but text me back and we can decide on something to do. –Unknown Number_

Sighing with relief, Quinn saved the number to her phone, laughing to herself at Rachel's text; she texted in paragraphs, much like her speech. Thumbs hovering over the keypad, she struggled to decide on what to reply. She definitely wanted to hang out with Rachel, but if she replied right away would she seem desperate? Before she had chance to decide, her phone was ripped out of her hands.

Santana ran to the sofa, the cell phone tight in her grip. "I see Berry finally decided to text you, huh? Are you going to accept her date invitation or what?"

_Date?_ "It's not a date Santana. We're friends, nothing more." Quinn stood from her seat and darted towards Santana, reaching for the phone, "Give me my phone back." Santana snickered and handed it back, just in time for Quinn to see the 'Message Sent' notification.

"I'm going to grab some breakfast and take it to Brittany at the studio before work, have fun on your date!" Santana sang as she grabbed her purse and left the apartment quickly, just in time to hear Quinn yell "It's not a date!" after her.

She opened up her recently sent messages to find out what Santana had said; her cheeks burning with embarrassment when she found it.

_Hey Rach, sure I'll meet up with you, we should get dinner babe, love you xxx_

Immediately, Quinn rushed to write a message back, ignoring spelling and grammar errors to apologize for Santana's text.

_Rachel I'm so sorry, Santana stole my phone and texted you that message. I would like to hang out this afternoon, maybe Central Park? We can get lunch there?_

While she waited for a reply, she rinsed out her cereal bowl and slipped the phone into her robe pocket. Her phone buzzed when she was about to walk into her bedroom and she stopped and leant on the door jamb to read Rachel's reply.

_Don't worry about it! Central Park sounds wonderful, I'll meet you at Patti's at 1pm when I get off my shift. –Rachel Berry_

Quinn smiled to herself and tapped out a quick reply to agree with the plans, before discarding her phone and her robe on her bed and scampering across the living room to the bathroom.

* * *

Her stomach fluttered at the thought of seeing Rachel again; she didn't know why she felt this way – she wasn't even gay or looking into having a relationship with anybody, boy or girl. Choosing to ignore her feelings, Quinn slipped on her wedges and unhooked her purse from her bedroom door handle, smoothing out her skirt as she made her way to the front door. Smiling at Mr. Rivers, the small middle-aged man who lived next door, Quinn stepped into the newly repaired elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor. She took her phone out of her purse and typed a quick message to Rachel, telling her she'd be at the coffee shop in a few minutes. The elevator stopped at the third floor and the doors opened to let a young Asian woman in. The woman smiled at Quinn as she stood beside her and Quinn's eyes subtly scanned her familiar clothing – it was the same uniform that Rachel had worn at Patti's the Sunday previous.

"You work at Patti's?" Quinn asked, causing the woman beside her to flinch and whip her head to the blonde.

"Y-yeah, you go there often? I don't think I've seen you around there before." The woman asked, a polite smile gracing her features.

Quinn shook her head quickly before answering, "No, I just moved here last Saturday, I've only been there once. I'm headed there right now actually; I'm meeting Rachel for lunch, do you know her?"

"Yeah, I went to high school with her actually, we work together now. I'm headed there too for my shift, you want to walk there with me?" she asked, holding out her hand, "I'm Tina."

Quinn smiled and shook Tina's hand, "I'm Quinn." The elevator doors opened the women walked out through the foyer and into the street.

"So you said you moved here on Saturday? Mike, my boyfriend, mentioned seeing a moving van when he got back from his run," Tina asked, fanning herself with her hand as she walked.

"Yes, I'm living with my friends Santana and Brittany in apartment 4B; I just graduated from Yale and I needed the writing inspiration that New Haven couldn't give me." Quinn replied, dodging through the crowds on the sidewalk as she attempted to keep up with Tina.

"I know Santana and Brittany, they come over sometimes and we have dinner or movie nights, they're a lovely couple. How do you know Rachel?" Tina replied as they turned onto the street where Patti's was situated. Quinn hesitated before answering.

"I met her on Sunday when she was working and she invited me to Callbacks. She forced me to sing a duet with her." She giggled, slowing as they approached Patti's.

"Ah! So _you're_ the blonde with the timeless beauty Kurt was telling me about!" Tina exclaimed as she pushed open the glass door into the busy coffee shop. Quinn felt her cheeks flush at the extremely flattering complement and trailed her eyes over to the counter, where her heart jumped as she locked eyes with Rachel over the shoulder of a customer. The brunette pulled her eyes away and smiled at the man she was serving and handed him his drink, opening the cash register to put the money in before twirling her way to the hatch and skipping towards Quinn and Tina.

"Quinn! You're early, I should be done in fifteen minutes; can I get you anything while you're waiting?" Rachel asked, before glancing over at Tina and smiling, "Did you two meet already?"

"We live in the same building! We just met in the elevator a few minutes ago, and no thank you I'm good." Quinn replied, following Rachel and Tina to the counter, "I'll sit over at that table and wait if that's okay?" Rachel nodded and smiled before wrapping her hand around Tina's arm and pulling her through the open hatch and directing her through the door that led to the staff lounge. Quinn unlocked her phone to find she had a text message from Puck, she rolled her eyes to herself before reading it.

_Sup baby mama, San told me you moved to the city, I'll swing by tomorrow night with a few beers and the four of us are gonna party high school style, you in? _–_Noah_

The idea was enticing, she hadn't seen Puck since she graduated from college and she hadn't properly hung out with him, Santana and Brittany all together since the summer after high school graduation. She typed out a quick reply, telling him that she was excited to see him again and to remind him not to bring anything too strong, she really didn't feel like nursing a hangover on Saturday morning, especially since she had only just shook off the remnants of Monday's hangover. Santana worked at Puck's bar _The Hawk_, named oh so glamorously after his hairstyle that had seemed to stick around after high school; the bar was a 20 minute cab ride from their apartment and Quinn had only been there twice – once on opening night and the second time was for Santana's 21st birthday. The phone vibrated in her hand as she received another text, this time from Santana.

_Q, did Puck text you already? He just left the bar to pick up his brother from JFK so he's probably bringing him tomorrow night. Invite Berry if you want to. –Santana_

Quinn turned to the counter on the other side of the room where Rachel was chatting animatedly to a little girl, who was held by a brunette woman facing Rachel. Over the buzz from the other customers, Quinn made out a few words that Rachel was saying to the child, something about Tangled. Rachel caught Quinn's eye and gestured for her to go over. When she reached the counter, she came face to face with an older version of Rachel, along with a blonde little girl aged about four.

"Quinn, this is my mother Shelby Corcoran and my adopted sister Lilly," Rachel said. "Shelby, Lilly, this is my friend Quinn Fabray." Shelby smiled warmly at Quinn and whispered in Lilly's ear to tell her to say hello to Quinn, to which she complied and muttered a quiet "hello" toward her.

Shelby placed Lilly on the ground and took her hand, tightening her grip on the small pink rucksack hanging off her shoulder. "We'd better go, Lilly's ballet class starts in half an hour. It was nice to meet you Quinn, Rachel I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. Bye, girls! Enjoy lunch!" she said, waving as she led Lilly out through the glass door.

"I get off in five minutes, do you want to choose a sandwich or something and we'll go?" Rachel asked, pointing to the glass case filled with sandwiches, salads and wraps. Quinn pointed to a BLT sandwich and Rachel picked it out with metal tongs and slipped it into a paper bag, and then picked out a vegan cream cheese sandwich and slipped it into a different paper bag. When Quinn reached into her purse to get some money, Rachel shook her head and said that lunch was on her; Quinn tried to refuse but Rachel was adamant that she was buying their lunch – she had staff discount after all, Quinn thought to herself, covering Rachel's actions.

* * *

It was only a short walk from Patti's to Central Park, and they walked through the park for five minutes until Quinn pointed to a spot beneath a large tree. The heat was only slightly bearable and after walking in it she needed to take off her shoes and let her feet cool in the grass. Rachel had changed from her Patti's uniform into a tight white tank top and black shorts that showed off her toned legs, which Quinn was finding herself having a hard time keeping her eyes away from. They sat down opposite each other and Rachel shot Quinn a small smile as she passed over the paper bag containing her sandwich.

"The owner's wife works at Sardi's, she's an incredible cook. She makes the sandwiches for the coffee shop in the mornings before she goes to work at the restaurant," Rachel said, rolling the paper bag down her sandwich to take a bite. Quinn followed suit, and almost moaned as the incredible flavor of the sandwich entered her mouth.

"These are delicious!" she said, chewing her food; Rachel giggled, covering her mouth as she watched the blonde woman in front of her devour her own food. "The food at Sardi's must be amazing,"

Rachel nodded, her brunette curls bobbing over her shoulders as she did so. "It's mind-blowing. I've only been there twice, and the first time I went I actually met Patti LuPone!" Quinn smiled at the excited tone, her eyes widening despite not knowing who Patti LuPone was.

As the two fell into a comfortable silence whilst they ate their sandwiches, Quinn made a memo in her mind to do some Broadway research.

/

"-and on my nineteenth birthday my dads flew out here and we saw the revival of _Evita_, it was wonderful, Ricky Martin played an amazing Che. Kurt and I go and see as many shows as possible; although we can only make one every few months, considering his busy schedule with Vogue. Have you ever been to a Broadway show?"

Quinn had spent the past half hour listening to Rachel talk about her Broadway history, but she hadn't really listened all that much – she was too mesmerized by the way the afternoon sunlight was hitting the brunette's features. The shadow had moved with the passing of the sun, and instead the sun was now blazing down on them and uncovering the highlights in Rachel's hair. She had to sit on her hand to keep herself from running her fingers through it or twisting the honeyed ends between her thumb and index finger. Rachel's voice was almost musical, she was a living musical; Quinn felt calmed when she spoke, like angels were harmonizing in the background of every sentence she spoke.

She hadn't realized that Rachel had asked her a question until she noticed the other girl smiling at her expectantly. "I'm sorry, w-what?" The brunette exhaled through her nose in a small laugh and repeated her question. Quinn shook her head in reply, "I've been to New York so many times but I've never gotten round to going to a show. I'd love to, though."

Rachel's eyes lit up and her expression indicated that she was racking her brain, and Quinn waited patiently for the inevitable ramble that would pour from Rachel's mouth in a matter of seconds. However, she was shocked when she said only three words:

"I'll take you." She clapped and danced a little in her seated position, the bright smile that Quinn had become so used to returned.

"What?"

"To a Broadway show, I'll take you! _Wicked_ is on at the moment, it's a wonderful show I've seen it twice already and I have the playbill from when Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth starred in it!" Rachel was now grinning profusely and had reached over to clasp both of her hands with Quinn's, who was also smiling. "Oh! I can get a discount from Mrs. Ryan and I'll take you to Sardi's after the show!"

Quinn was at a loss for words, Rachel's excitement was contagious. "Are you sure? I… I mean, is this like a date or-" she slapped her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, ignore me – of course it's not a date, I mean we've just met and I don't even know if you're-"

She was stopped by the soft feeling of Rachel's hand against her cheek. "Quinn, breathe." Her smile had reduced to a smaller, warmer smile as she swiped her thumb across Quinn's cheekbone. Quinn's heart literally faltered when she noticed that Rachel was leaning in, her face becoming closer. She was now knelt in front of her, one hand against Quinn's cheek and one hand placed lightly on her knee. Quinn couldn't help but flicker her eyes down to Rachel's lips, which were now only a few centimeters away from her own. She could hear her heart beating, so loud that it sounded as though it was thumping against the inside of her eardrum. Subconsciously wetting her lips, she slowly moved forward, only stopping when her lips met Rachel's index finger.

"_It's only a date if you want it to be_." Rachel whispered. They remained in that position for a second longer, before Rachel leaned back, gathered her things and stood up. "I'll see you around, Quinn."

The breath she hadn't realized she was holding escaped, and she folded her hands in her lap. Suddenly remembering about Santana's text, Quinn quickly jumped to her feet and shouted out to Rachel, who was slowly walking away as if she was anticipating being called after. The brunette spun around as Quinn picked up her purse and jogged over.

"Uh, my roommates and I are having drinks at our apartment with one of our high school friends tomorrow night and Santana told me to ask you if you wanted to come," Quinn asked, stuttering over her words as she nervously passed her phone between her hands.

Rachel smiled and nodded, "I'd love to! I know where your apartment is because Tina and Mike live there, but what apartment number is it?" she asked, reached into her purse to write a memo on her phone.

"4B, come over at around seven." She nodded and smiled before tapping the information into her phone. "Would you maybe walk me out of the park? I don't really know my way around here and I don't do too well with maps." Rachel laughed and agreed, holding out her arm in an invitation for Quinn to take; she looked at it and hesitated before sighing and giving in, linking her right arm through Rachel's left and quietly chatting to her as they strolled toward the exit.

* * *

"You're not walking home?" Quinn asked, brow furrowed when Rachel lifted her arm to expertly hail a yellow cab.

Opening the door, Rachel shook her head. "N-no, I live in Bushwick, it's a little away from here." She slid into the backseat and before shutting the door she waved and shouted a happy, "Bye, Quinn!" and then drove away. Both of Quinn's arms dropped to her sides and she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth to bite on it, forming a goofy grin.

Okay, yes she did kind of _like_ like Rachel Berry. Rachel made her feel giddy inside, like all of her insides were swarmed with butterflies. Rachel made the dark clouds embedded in her mind clear, she was the brightest star in Quinn's newly cleared sky. But Rachel also terrified her; yes, Santana already probably knew that she was most likely a little gay, considering the things they got up to in high school behind closed doors when they were both feeling alone, but she'd never felt this way about anyone before. She'd dated Finn, Noah and Sam in high school, as well as the many unsuccessful dates she'd gone on with guys at college, but neither one of them made her heart flutter when she saw them, neither one of them made her chest tighten when they smiled at her, neither one of them made her melt just by simply looking into their eyes.

Neither of them were _Rachel_.

It was at this moment that Quinn found herself standing outside The Hawk. It was only 4pm, so she knew that Santana still had an hour until she got off work, and she'd be pissy because she hates working daytime shifts on weekdays. Pushing the door open, she immediately found her best friend lurking behind the dark wood bar, which was decorated with various flashing neon lights. Santana shot up from her place when the door opened and smiled at Quinn, who was sliding onto one of the red leather bar stools.

"Hey there Miss Fabray, what can I get you?" she said, plastering an overly friendly grin on her face and showing her "utmost hospitality". Quinn sighed and rested her chin against her left palm, raising her eyebrows at her friend.

"Just a diet coke please," Santana shook her head at the blonde's request and reached for one of the tall wine glasses stored beneath the counter. Ignoring Quinn's noises of rejection, she pulled the cork out of a half empty bottle of white wine and poured it into the glass, pushing it towards the opposite end of the counter. Quinn smiled meekly and sipped the wine, watching Santana as she pressed her palms against the counter to push herself up and sit on it.

"It's on the house. So, how was your date with Berry?" Santana asked, winking at the blonde, who carefully placed her glass down and rested her hands over each other.

"It wasn't a date, and it was lovely thank you for asking. We took sandwiches to Central Park and we just talked, nothing big." Quinn glared up at her friend, tucking a section of hair behind her ear.

Santana wriggled her eyebrows and scoffed, "Sounds romantic!" Quinn shoved at her thigh and Santana giggled, "So you two just talked? For three hours?"

Quinn hesitated and shrugged, before answering a quiet "…yes?" causing Santana to gasp and slam her hand down on the bar.

"You fucked didn't you! Either that or you made out against a tree. Jesus, Q! On the first date?" Quinn shook her head quickly and held out her hand,

"No, we didn't partake in any kind of sexual act together. We talked, that's it." Santana noticed the clear upset in Quinn's eyes and softened her expression. She was about to apologize when they were interrupted by an excited,

"Lady Fabray! To what does The Hawk owe the honor?" Puck jogged over to the two women and wrapped his arms around the blonde in a tight bear hug. When she began struggling to breathe, Puck let go and pushed his brother towards them. "Quinn, Santana this here is Jake Puckerman, my half-brother-from-another-mother - literally." They both greeted him, and Santana offered to get him a drink, to which he politely declined and excused himself to the bathroom.

"Is he coming tomorrow night?" Quinn asked, and Puck nodded as he hopped over the countertop to serve the two men who had just walked into the bar. "I'm bringing a friend, her name's Rachel."

"She hot?" Puck asked, handing the men their change before turning to Santana, who winked at him and nodded towards an embarrassed looking Quinn.

"Quinn seems to think she is – isn't that right, Q?" she asked, spinning on her jeans clad ass and hopping down from the countertop.

"She's very pretty, yes. Santana what time does Britt finish at the studio?" Quinn's attempt of saving herself failed when Santana cleared away the empty glass in front of her and told her to stop changing the subject. "Okay, I'm going home now. Puck, Jake I'll see you tomorrow night. Goodbye." She swiftly stood up from her seat and grabbed her purse before throwing a quick wave behind her as she walked out of the establishment.

* * *

Brittany knocked lightly on the door three times before opening it slowly and sticking her head into the room. Quinn smiled and closed the lid of her laptop.

"I just wanted to say goodnight," Brittany said, walking over to Quinn's bed and hopping under the blankets. Quinn wrapped her arm around Brittany's shoulders and brought her into a quick cuddle. "I'm exhausted, I had to teach five classes today because Allie called in sick, so I had to take her introductory salsa class and her intermediate hip-hop class."

"Thank you for coming in to say goodnight, Britt." Quinn said, running her fingers through Brittany's soft hair as her eyes slowly started drooping.

"That's not the only thing I came in here for, I also wanted to thank you for coming to live here with us. Santana used to stress all the time about us not visiting you enough, and she was worried that we'd end up barely speaking." Brittany said quietly, to make sure Santana wouldn't hear through the wall.

Quinn smiled and snuggled further into Brittany, kissing her lightly on the temple and ushering her out of the bed. "I'm glad I moved here too. Go to bed, it's late, Britt. Goodnight!" Brittany waved and shuffled out of the room, slowly closing the door behind her. Switching off the lamp beside her bed, it struck her. Tomorrow, Rachel would most likely be staying over at their apartment. Most likely in her bed. Most likely in her bed, with her in it. Quinn's heart began to beat a hell of a lot faster than the usual rate it went at, and she closed her eyes, willing her body to ignore the extraordinary excitement and succumb to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello! I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for such a late update; I'm in my final year of school and I've had two exams this week that I've had to study for and I've got another exam on Tuesday next week, so since I posted the first chapter I've been holed under with Christmas, family and studying. I'm really, really, really sorry! I promise that from now on updates will be on more of a regular, weekly basis.**

**On a brighter note, I'd want to thank everyone who followed, favorite and reviewed this story! I didn't get to PM the anonymous reviewers because that option isn't available, but you're all wonderful and you all put big smiles on my face. Please do continue to review because they are incredibly motivational and they do urge me to write more – plus, they make me really happy (especially when I'm in the middle of class at school and I get an email telling me somebody's reviewed!). I love to reply to your reviews via PM, but if you'd rather review anonymously I don't mind, it will still be appreciated!**

**In the first chapter I asked you to follow my tumblr, but I'd forgotten that I had deleted it a month prior to writing this Fanfiction, but it's up and running again and the address is just chanossay with the usual ending (it's also on my profile).**

**Thank you all again for reading and I'm sorry that this A/N is so long!**

**Next chapter - party in apartment 4B, I wonder what will go down there? (Pun may or may not be intended... wanky)**


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